Adam and I take a seat as the cruiser departs toward the falls. "Hello everyone, my name is Naomi and I will be your tour guide today," the young lady says into a microphone that plays through loud speakers on the boat.
The tour guide continues to ramble on, spouting "fun" facts about the falls, as Adam leans in toward me and asks, "Have you ever been here before?"
I turn to face him, "Once, when I was a 5," I pause for a second before I continue, "That was the last trip my parents took me on before my dad split." I don't usually like talking about my home life, my past, or anything else that's personal but I feel like I can trust Adam with my darkest secrets and he won't judge or abandon me.
He nods like he gets it, "Do you ever see your dad?" He asks.
"No, I wouldn't even know where to look," I say with a small frown. He dropped off the face of the earth by the time I turned 6. Whenever I used to ask my mom about him, she would always change the subject and my memories of him are vague. It's not that I want to know my father, I mean how good of a guy could he be if he abandoned his child? But I want to know why he left, what about our family was not good enough for him anymore? Was I not worth sticking around for?
"His loss," Adam says sincerely, holding my gaze for a few seconds. I find myself holding my breath when we lock eyes. After a moment Adam says, "Come on," while standing up and pulling me up with him. "The views better over there," he says walking us over to the railing at the front of the ship. It's more peaceful at the bow of the boat, less people, just Adam and I and the falls in front of us.
"What about you? Do you keep in touch with your dad?" I don't know what prompts me to ask, but I don't think I've ever heard Adam talk about his real dad. Drew talks about his real mom sometimes, but Adam has never said a word about his life before his mom remarried. He's kind of a mystery now that I think about it. I guess a part of me is curious and wants to get to know Adam on a deeper level.
Adam sighs and puts his elbows on the railing, leaning against it. His head dips and I think he's looking at the water. I move a little closer but can't see his facial expression. I must have struck a chord.
"You don't have to answer," I say after a minute passes. I want to change the subject but Adam still hasn't looked up, or even acknowledged the question yet. I'll just give him a moment to be in his thoughts.
He finally lifts his head and sighs before saying, "My dad and I had a strained relationship. He never accepted me for who I was. For a long time he tried to change me, but when he realized that wasn't going to work he stopped acknowledging me at all," he pauses a moment before continuing, "Of course when my mother was around he acted civil, but when she was gone and it was just the two of us he would either act like I didn't exist or he would be abusive." He doesn't say it in an angry or resentful tone, but more matter-of-factly.
"Oh Adam," I say sympathetically. I bring my left arm up and gently rub his back for support. He has his head looking in the other direction, so I still can't see the expression on his face while he's telling me this.
"Mostly it was verbal slurs, but occasionally he'd throw a punch or two at me," Adam says in a low voice. I can feel his body tense as he tells me, like he's reliving some of the memories. I find myself internally kicking myself for bringing this up in the first place.
"I'm so sorry," I say moving my arm down to his waist, giving him a side hug and resting my head on his shoulder which causes him to relax a bit.
"It's okay," he says putting his arm around me and hugging me back. He finally looks my way and I see a pained expression on his face that quickly disappears once he locks eyes with me, "My mom eventually found out and she kicked him out of the house and divorced him. Now he lives somewhere in the states and I haven't heard from him since." He says.
As sad and tragic that story was, and how horrible that was for Adam to live through, I'm glad he opened up to me. I know it pained him to recall all of that, but we're closer because of it. It's like we've established an unspoken trust that runs deeper than friendship.
"You're the only person I've ever told that to," Adam admits.
I feel a small smile appear on my face, "Really?" I ask in disbelief. I'm not happy because I'm the only one who knows his secret, or that I'm unique because I'm the only one he's told, I'm happy because that means he trusts me more than anyone else he's ever encountered.
He removes his arm from around my shoulder and leans against the railing again, "Yeah, it feels good getting that out there. Whenever I used to think about it I would get super bummed out, but now I feel like a weights been lifted."
"Thanks for trusting me Adam. Whenever you feel down, about anything, you can always come talk to me," I say. And I hope he takes me up on that offer, talking with Adam is like a remedy to a problem I wasn't even aware of.
He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles. I smile back. And all the pain and misery that existed during that conversation seems to wash away.
…..
Adam's POV
Looking at Bianca right now, with her gaze meeting mine, I feel a strong urge to close the space between us and kiss her. After that conversation we just had, I've never felt closer to a person in my life. I come battered and scarred, nowhere near perfect, but Bianca accepts me anyways. Its official, I've fallen for this girl. Somehow we've slowly gravitated closer to one another, now only inches apart.
I wet my lips in anticipation when I hear the tour guides voice shrill over the speakers, knocking me out of the moment with Bianca, "Watch out, wave!" The boat jerks and I look up to see a tall wave about to crash down on the bow of the boat. I pull Bianca to me in hopes of shielding her, but the wave hits completely soaking the both of us. "Sorry about that folks, with the rapids caused by the falls that happens occasionally," the tour guide explains.
One of the employees on the ship brings us two towels to help us dry off, "Thanks," I say kind of chuckling. These towels won't do much but I appreciate the gesture. I shake my head, sending drops of water everywhere.
"Hey watch it!" Bianca says playfully whacking me with her towel. I laugh, I think we both know me shaking my head isn't going to get her anymore wet than she already is.
I run the towel over face and neck, then move to my arms. I notice Bianca slowly, well at least in my mind it was slow motion, pull off her shirt leaving her in a black tank top. She rings out her shirt and I can't help but stare at the newly exposed skin. I look away before she can catch me staring and glance around the boat, I notice a few guys have also caught on to the little show going on at the front of the boat.
Feeling a little protective I say, "Let's find a better place to dry off." I walk toward the guy who handed us the towels, "Can we get a more private place to dry off?" I ask.
He seems content to help us out, "Sure, follow me," he says. Not really thinking about it, I grab Bianca's hand as we follow this guy to a little staircase leading us below the deck. He opens a door that leads us to a hallway, "Second door on the right is a room you two can use to dry off in," he says.
"Thank you," I say as he heads back to the upper deck.
I enter the room with Bianca right behind me. It's pretty cramped, with only a bed in the middle of the room and a dresser opposite the bed. There is maybe a three feet gap between the walls and the bed. In the far right corner of the room is an ajar door leading to a bathroom. This is probably a captain's quarters or something.
"So," I say not really knowing how to proceed. I wanted privacy but now that we have it I don't know what to do.
"Hope you don't mind," Bianca says peeling off her tank top, leaving her in just a bra. She's standing right next to me as she rings it out. She lays the two articles of clothing, her shirt and tank top, on top of the dresser to dry. Next she pulls off her shorts and does the same thing with them. She looks up at me and I promptly shut my gaping mouth.
Not wanting to just stand here and look stupid, I kick off my shoes and remove my shirt and jeans leaving me in a wife beater and boxers. We're both looking at each other, neither of us moving away or breaking the gaze. I feel my heartbeat picking up, I take a few slow breaths to calm myself down.
After a few seconds I notice her shiver, cold from being on a boat at Niagara Falls half naked. Not entirely sure how to warm her up, I do the one thing I've been wanting to do since we got in the car this morning and decided to drive up here.
I lean in slowly, giving her enough time to back out at any point, and after a hesitant pause, I decide it's safe to close the gap and our lips connect. Bianca's soft, inviting lips press against mine. Knowing that she's kissing me back sends a wave of relief through me. I pull her closer with my arms around her waist and we take the few baby steps needed to reach the bed. Bianca takes initiative, laying down and pulling me on top of her. Bianca, with her tongue in my mouth, starts to lift the bottom of my wife beater, stopping half way. Her hands tracing the contours of my abs creating heat everywhere she touches.
I could kiss her perfect, soft lips all day but I want to explore the rest of her, every ridge and valley on her body. I place tiny, feather like kisses along her jaw, down her neck, over her breasts, then her stomach, feeling constantly encouraged by the way Bianca would moan or press against me.
We get interrupted by another intercom message from the tour guide, "Hello folks, if you haven't noticed yet, we are directly in front of the falls now, and for all those lovers out there I hope you know what that means. It's tradition to kiss your special someone in front of the falls, it brings good luck to the relationship. So if you have someone special with you right now, please, I encourage you to continue the tradition."
I stop placing kisses on her stomach and look up at her, unsure if I am her special someone. She has reassuring smile on her face, "Come here," she whispers, pulling me back up to her. I look into her eyes and find her staring back at me, she leans in this time and kisses me. It's not as fervent and feverish as our kisses were before, it's slower, more passionate. She parts her lips and I slide my tongue to meet hers. We're making out, my heart beating out of my chest, and my head dizzy from the pleasure.
I don't know how much time passes with us making out, our hands occasionally wandering and our mouths never straying, but before I know it I feel the boat dock and hear the intercom woman say, "Thank you for joining us on this tour, I hope you enjoyed your time visiting the falls!"
I break the kiss, "Shit, we should go," I say hopping off the bed. We both get dressed quickly, our clothes still pretty wet, and head up the stairs to the main deck. Fortunately, there are still a few stragglers left on the boat so we aren't the last people getting off the boat.